Three Accessories that Make Camping More Comfortable
There’s more to enjoying camping than just a good night’s sleep—but it sure is a good starting point.
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Camping participation is on the rise, with recent figures showing Millennials are firmly embracing this wonderful outdoor pastime. In fact, Millennials now represent about 38 percent of the active camper households in the United States, and throughout all demographics, members of nearly 13 million U.S. households say they want to camp more in the upcoming year. Unfortunately, camping can sometimes be a somewhat miserable experiencing. Here are a few tips on the equipment you should bring along to make sure your next camping trip is your most comfortable ever.
Sleep Tight
A good night’s sleep can be one of the hardest things to experience on a camping trip if you are ill-prepared. But if you have the necessary items, you can get a complete night of rest. A good sleeping mat is one of the most important necessities. Thin, roll-up sleeping mats will suffice, but inflatable ones that blow up to at least a couple inches thick will help you not feel the hard ground, and small objects on it, as much. A good sleeping bag is the next necessity. Make sure your bag is rated for the kind of temperatures you are likely to experience. Being too cold or too hot won’t result in adequate rest. Also, a quality camp pillow can make all the difference in the world. Many modern blow-up camp pillows are comfortable when inflated and can squeeze down to a tiny package for stowing and transport. Lastly, a good set of earplugs can make or break a camping trip, depending on the rest of your crew’s snoring habits.
Safe Travels
This headlamp features red, green, and blue single power LEDs for better visibility at night. Black Diamond
Many might not consider a flashlight to be a comfort item, but experienced campers know that’s certainly one role a good headlamp can play. Consider what happens if you wake up in the middle of the night and need to go to the bathroom. Without a good headlamp, you could easily step on others in the tent, trip over a log, or even fall in a lake or river. It’s possible you might even get lost and not be able to find your way back to the tent. So, what do you do? Some campers try to sleep without going out, but that’s just uncomfortable. Headlamps are also very useful for a variety of other chores that often occur after dark. Gathering firewood at night is much easier with a good headlamp because both hands are free. Maneuvering your way around camp and even getting from your campfire to your tent at bedtime are also easier with a good headlamp.
Chill Out
That “bad camp food” myth you hear some people talk about isn’t always a reality. In fact, camp food can be some of the best meals you ever eat. The key is having the means to get good food and ingredients to your campsite and keeping it cold until you’re ready to prepare something. To do that, you need a really good cooler—and this is no place to skimp. New, high-tech, rotomolded coolers were designed solely for keeping items inside cold longer, and they’re great at that job. Constructed with what is called rotationally molded plastic, the manufacturing process increases the insulation power since it leaves no air between thick layers of interior and exterior plastic. A good cooler can also allow you to preserve ice for up to a week and keep drinks cold, which can help you sit more comfortably in the shade on a hot day.
